"And I like to direct the same way that I like to be directed," Clint Eastwood.

Award winning director and actor Clint Eastwood recently received his second Academy Award for Best Director for the boxing drama that he also costarred in, Million Dollar Baby. An actor since the 1950s, Eastwood was first thrown into the limelight while starring on the series Rawhide (1959-1966, as Rowdy Yates) and in Sergio Leone's film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1967).

Eastwood is also widely recognized portraying memorable roles like The Man With No Name in For a Few Dollars More (1965) and Harry Callahan in the huge hit cop drama Dirty Harry (1971) and it's sequels. Following receiving his star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 1984, Eastwood later garnered a handful of awards for his directing work in Bird (1988) and Unforgiven (1992).

Off screen, Eastwood is widely remembered for his long-time involvement with fellow actress Sandra Locke (born 1947). The relationship that started in 1975 later came to end with a palimony suit in 1989. He was also linked to actresses, Frances Fisher (born on May 11, 1952; 1 child) and Roxanne Tunis.

Old West Action

Childhood and Family:

Of Dutch, Scottish, Irish and English heritage, Clinton Eastwood Jr. was born on May 31, 1930 to parents Clinton Eastwood Sr. (steelworker, migratory worker) and Francesca Ruth Eastwood (born in 1909). He also has one older sister, Jean Eastwood.

Born in San Francisco, California, Clint attended eight elementary schools and Oakland Technical High School in California. He attended college on the GI Bill in Los Angeles City College, California (majored in business) but later dropped out. He then joined the United States Army.

On December 19, 1953, Clint married Maggie Johnson and together they had two kids, son Kyle Eastwood (actor, musician; born on May 19, 1968) and daughter Alison Eastwood (actress; born on May 22, 1972). The couple filed for divorce in 1978.

"There's only one way to have a happy marriage and as soon as I learn what it is I'll get married again," Clint Eastwood.

After years of loneliness, Clint finally married TV anchor Dina Ruiz (born 1965) on 31 March 1996 in Las Vegas, Nevada and had one daughter with her, Morgan Eastwood (born December 12, 1996). Clint also has four other children, Kimber Eastwood (actress, born June 17, 1964; mother: Roxanne Tunis), Scott Eastwood (born March 21, 1986), Kathryn Eastwood (February 2, 1988) and Francesca Ruth Eastwood (born on August 7, 1993; mother: Frances Fisher).

Clint Eastwood, who said that his name is the anagram for 'old west action,' became the grandfather of grandson Clinton Eastwood (born: 1984, mother: Kimber Eastwood) and granddaughter Graylen Eastwood (born: 1994, father: Kyle Eastwood).

Rahide's Rowdy

Career:

"I never considered myself a cowboy, because I wasn't. But I guess when I got into cowboy gear I looked enough like one to convince people that I was," Clint Eastwood.

A hay bailer, logger, truck driver, steel-furnace stoker and Veteran of the US Army, Clint Eastwood moved to L.A in 1954 with the encouragement of friends David Janssen and Martin Milner. He landed a weekly $75 contract with Universal International and got his first acting work in the B-grade sci-fi movies Revenge of the Creature (1955), Francis in the Navy (1955) and Tarantula (1955). After being dropped by Universal, Eastwood did some odd jobs until a network executive accidentally discovered him while meeting a friend at CBS. Considering Clint's face to have the 'look like a cowboy', the executive handed Eastwood the starring role of Rowdy Yates (1959-1966) in Jus Addiss' western, the CBS' series Rawhide and he became famous nation wide.

Eastwood was launched to the international spotlight when he transferred to Spain. He nabbed lead roles in such Sergio Leone's runaway success films as A Fistful of Dollars (1964, the reproduction of Yojimbo), For a Few Dollars More (1965, Eastwood was most recognized as The Man With No Name), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).

Returning to the US, Eastwood then established his own production company, Malpaso. He also continued acting, playing several outstanding roles including Don Siegel's Coogan's Bluff (1968), Where Eagles Dare (1968, alongside Richard Burton), Paint Your Wagon (1969, also sang in the film), and Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970, with Shirley MacLaine) as well as The Beguiled (1971). Eastwood gained wider recognition starring as San Francisco police inspector Harry Callahan in the much-admired film Dirty Harry (1971), which spawned four sequels, Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983), and The Dead Pool (1988).

In the early 1970s, Eastwood began to direct and act in several films, notably Kelly's Heroes (1970), Play Misty for Me (1971), Joe Kidd (1972) and High Plains Drifter (1972). He is also responsible for the films High Plains Drifter (1973), The Eiger Sanction (1975) and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). Clint also directed an episode of NBC's Amazing Stories in 1985.

Eastwood starred in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974, with Jeff Bridges) and The Gauntlet (1977, co-starring Sondra Locke). He also worked with orangutan Clyde in the comedy Every Which Way But Loose (1978) and its 1980 sequel Any Which Way You Can. He reunited with (directed Dirty Harry film) Don Siegel in his thriller Escape from Alcatraz (1979) and starred in Richard Benjamin's action-comedy City Heat (1984, opposite Burt Reynolds).

Eastwood put his singing talent on the soundtrack of the romance-comedy Bronco Billy (1980), which he also directed and starred. He later did his first producing work in Firefox (1982, also directed and starred). Clint followed it with Honkytonk Man (1982, co-starring son Kyle), the cop drama Tightrope (1984), Pale Rider (1985) and Heartbreak Ridge (1986).

1988 was Eastwood's big year as a director. He took home the Golden Globe award for directing the musical drama Bird, a film about the life of jazz prodigy Charlie "Bird" Parker. In his 60s, Eastwood still fascinated audiences when he starred and directed White Hunter, Black Heart (1990) and The Rookie (1991, alongside Charlie Sheen).

The western blockbuster Unforgiven (1992) scored Eastwood numerous awards, including double Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. Subsequently, Eastwood's exceptional works could be seen in A Perfect World (1993, opposite Kevin Costner), In the Line of Fire (1993), The Bridges of Madison County (1994, along with Meryl Streep), The Stars Fell on Henrietta (1995, producer) and Absolute Power (1997). He was also the man behind the scenes for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997, starring Kevin Spacey and John Cusack), the thriller True Crime (1999), Space Cowboys (2000, with Tommy Lee Jones and Donald Sutherland) and Blood Work (2002).

Eastwood directed the brilliant drama Mystic River (2003, starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne) and achieved another Academy Award for directing the boxing drama Million Dollar Baby (2004), in which he starred with Academy Award winners Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman. Additionally, Eastwood is currently working on his upcoming film project, the WW II drama Flags of Our Fathers (2006), which is an adaptation taken from James Bradley's book. Eastwood is also reported to have provided his voice for the Dirty Harry video game.

"My old drama coach used to say, 'Don't just do something, stand there.' Gary Cooper wasn't afraid to do nothing," Clint Eastwood.

Awards:

Academy Award: Best Director, Million Dollar Baby, 2005

Golden Globe: Best Director, Million Dollar Baby, 2005

National Board of Review: Special Filmmaking Achievement, Million Dollar Baby, 2005

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